The awfulness of Clover

I’ve never eaten at their stores, but was a frequent visitor of their food truck when I was working in Kendall Sq (back in the days). The food was more reasonable priced then, and often fresh. I thought the food then was very tasty, with my favorite being the egg and eggplant and the BBQ seitan sandwich. Always sad to see a local small business go bust after trying to go big, and I’m sure the pandemic didn’t help.

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Thx for this post

Chickpea fritter sandwich is $10.75, not $20.

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I appreciate what they do, keeping things local as much as they can and making so many items in house (drinks, etc). I don’t have a Clover near where I live or work so only visit sporadically but mostly have enjoyed what I order there. Love the winter roots CSA they offer, too. Wishing them the best and that they can come out of this in a better place!

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Yes, the chickpea fritter sandwich is $10.75 at my nearest Clover, in Somerville, just a few blocks from the Boston city line.

The “hand cut rosemary” fries are $5.85 as a side. I’ve eaten lots of falafel in my life but never with fries. McDonald’s large fries average $3.79.

Clover is not McDonald’s.
The chickpea fritter sandwich comes with " Our own pita, baked a few hours ago at CloverHUB. Silky hummus made with organic chickpeas from Connecticut. Falafel balls (crispy outside, soft inside, toasted spices and fresh herbs.) Cucumber tomato salad we cut each morning. Bright pickled veggies. A drizzle of tahini sauce."

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Any word on which locations are at risk? We’ve been relying on the Newtonville location for the best/freshest pita in the area.

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“the company said it will terminate the leases on its locations that are underperforming and have above-market rent”

Who knows what that means, but they were aggressive in signing leases, so above market rent may apply to lots of locations. The Newtonville location is definitely in a newer mixed use development whose commercial spaces are not generally inexpensive to rent.

Awwww, I liked Clover! Years ago I had an egg and tomato sandwich from their truck in Dewey Square (the one outside South Station, I’m so horrible with remembering names) and it was awesome. :smile: I’ve had other stuff too and was surprised to see their expansion! Last I had was about a year ago when a friend brought me back lots of food from their Newton location.

I like them and their food, :smiling_face:. If I still lived in Boston, I’d go regularly. Until such time when my friend visits, I get loads of takeout. I hope they emerge with success. Sincerely.

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I’ve had the Mediterranean bowl twice recently and really liked it. The falafel is a bit overcooked/crunchy for me, but it’s fine with the excellent included hummus and also comes with small portions of three delicious salads (farro, cucumber/tomato, and chickpea) and pickled cabbage. The falafel are kind of salty alone but get balanced out mixed with the hummus and salads.

I think most of the salt overload is in the separately packaged “spicy herby green tahini sauce.” It got left out of my second order, presumably by mistake since I didn’t ask it be omitted, and the overall dish without it wasn’t too salty (and I’m very sensitive to salt) or too dry at all. Also came with a piece of the fluffy pita.

For $12.50, I found it a reasonably-sized and -priced, healthy, delicious lunch. I’ll definitely get it again.

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Here’s a terrible quality photo of a wildly delicious falafel etc. vendor near the main train station of Alexandria, Egypt.

IIRC, fries are definitely a common accompaniment to falafel – ehem, ta’amiya – at Cairo and Alexandria street food vendors. Then again, every side dish (e.g. grilled eggplant, salad, and pickles) was good, too. But fries were popular.

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n.b. this was breakfast, given that there’s a bowl of ful medames present.

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I’d love that breakfast and the photo is beautiful! I love ful medames and all those vegetables and pickles along with the plant proteins.

I do understand that fries are often a companion to falafel…for people in the US and elsewhere. Sad to say, I’ve only eaten falafel in the US (the furthest south I’ve ever been was San Antonio, Texas, and the furthest east, Warsaw, Poland).

I was speaking to the comment about how much falafel and fries combo costs at Clover, and that I personally wouldn’t order both there.

I’d be very happy to eat any street food in Egypt or elsewhere.

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In my dreams I travel the world to eat. :smile: looks delicious!!! :relieved:

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Was in Kendall Sq this week for work (Manhattan resident who works for a Cambridge company). I had a small window to grab something to go before I left. No Dumpling Daughters anymore. Line at Vesper. Lines at Cava. I was surprised to see that Clover was empty.

ADDING: Had two large group dinners in Kendall Square. Both not very good. Batifiol was meh. Drinks and wine list very good though. The Locke Bar basic and bad. Poor service.

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Yeah, it’s tough to compete with the lineup of brasseries and bistros in NYC. I recently paid for back to back meals at Amelie while in NY and then a business dinner at Batifiol a few weeks later. The tab at Amelie was a touch less expensive for the same size party and the food FAR superior. Batofiol felt like an Epcot restaurant in comparison. It’s never fair to compare Boston to NYC though and I feel like the dining gulf has widened as price to value has decreased in Boston.

My post was not about comparing Boston to NYC. It was commentary on those two experiences on their own. I have quite a few places in the Cambridge area that I like. Sumiao Hunan Kitchen is one. Area 4. Catalyst. Pagu. Sulmona.

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Agree on Sumaio. My kids like Sulmona. I feel like Area Four has been very inconsistent for a while now. In general I had hoped for more interesting dining options with all of the
development around Kendall. On the edge of Kendall, Judy’s Bay is worth checking out.

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Thank you for the Judy’s recc. Looks fantastic and not far from my office.

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Odd, I’ve been eating Clover for at least 15 years since their humble beginnings out of a food truck in Kendall Square on Carleton Street and never had issues and mostly good customer service each and every visit. Granted the food truck was a very business model than their brick and mortar… but I’ve eaten at their location a few times near South Station and never ran into those customer service issues.

I do agree though, if they’re assuming that descriptions aren’t needed for vague food items, then yeah, that’s annoying.

The only thing that’s always irked me is how many lights they leave on, overnight, in their stores considering their business is about making things greener and healthier.

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I get Sabich at Angel’s Cafe in Sharon (as soon as yesterday as a matter of fact).

It’s so good. I really wish more spots carried this delicious food item.

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